Almost 700 migrants rescued off the Italian coast, 5 discovered lifeless

Almost 700 migrants, together with 5 lifeless our bodies, have been rescued on Saturday off the southern coast of Italy, a coastguard assertion stated on Sunday, as flows of migrants crossing the Mediterranean improve throughout beneficial sea circumstances.

Most of the 674 migrants have been discovered on a fishing boat 124 miles off the coast of Calabria, the boot of Italy. Others have been rescued within the water.

Search and rescue operations have been carried out by a service provider vessel and Italy’s coastguard and finance police.

The migrants have been transferred to port cities in Sicily and Calabria on Sunday morning, the assertion added. The 5 lifeless our bodies have been delivered to the morgue within the hospital of the Sicilian metropolis of Messina.

More than 34,000 asylum seekers and migrants have landed in Italy because the begin of the yr, up from some 25,500 in the identical interval final yr, information from Italy’s inside ministry reveals.

Mediterranean nations on main migrant routes into Europe count on greater than 150,000 arrivals this yr as meals shortages brought on by the Ukraine battle threaten a brand new migration wave from Africa and the Middle East. On Sunday morning, Norwegian-flagged ship Ocean Viking noticed an overcrowded rubber boat within the worldwide waters off the coast of Libya and rescued 87 individuals, together with 57 unaccompanied minors, it stated on Twitter.

Separately, on Saturday German NGO search and rescue ship Sea-Watch rescued over 400 migrants, together with a number of younger kids and two pregnant lady, travelling on 4 overcrowded boats. According to Sea-Watch, flat seas and lack of wind have helped arrivals of migrants to the Italian coasts.

In Lampedusa, over 400 migrants have disembarked since final night time, after an additional 350 individuals on Saturday, difficult the migrant reception centre on the island, which is coping with over 1,000 individuals.